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1 © 2018 W. R. Grace & Co. | ConfidentialIncrease FCC profitability by Operating in Propylene Maximization Mode | October 2-4, 2018

KMG Rompetrol & Grace: Increase FCC Profitability by

Operating in Propylene Maximization Mode

Rafael González Sánchez | Regional Technical Sales Manager

RefComm Conference | Valencia, 2nd – 4th October 2018


Poll Question

• European refineries which are integrated with

petrochemical facilities will be better positioned for the

future market challenges.

a) True

b) False

c) It depends


KMG Rompetrol

Refining and petrochemicals is one of the main

business units of KMG International

• It has two Production facilities: Petromida

consisting of a Refinery and Petrochemical

Complex and Vega Refinery.

• The refinery operates integrated petrochemical

production facilities, making propylene a key

product for the refinery

• The fluid catalytic cracking (FCC) unit is the main

contributor to the refinery’s production of light

olefins, especially propylene.

Nelson Complexity Index 10.5

Unit design UOP SBS

Unit capacity, bbl/day 24100

FCCU unit process 100 % hydrotreated feed

Crude processed are typically URAL with blend to other

opportunity crudes like Kirkuk, Azeri, Siberian, CPC


KMG Rompetrol

Refining and petrochemicals is one of the main

business units of KMG International.

• It has three production units – Petromidia

refinery (in Navodari), Vega refinery (in Ploiesti)

and the Petrochemicals division.

• Petromidia is the most efficient refinery in

Romania and the 9th out of 250 refineries in

Europe and Africa.

• The refinery operates integrated

petrochemical production facilities, making

propylene a key product for the refinery

• The fluid catalytic cracking (FCC) unit is the

main contributor to the refinery’s production of

light olefins, especially propylene.-

Annual Refining Capacity

(MTmn)

Nelson Complexity Index 9.7

FCCU process hydrotreated

feed100%

Unit design UOP SBS

Typical feed process

URAL/CPC/Kirkuk76%/6%/20-30%


Global Cumulative Growth in Petchem

Demand

• 2016 - Petchem make up 12% of crude oil market.

• 2035 - Petchem will make up almost 50% demand of crude oil growth


FCCU Propylene Yields

• Yields of over 12 wt% have been achieved with Grace’s latest generation

of propylene maximization technology.

• KMG Rompetrol is among the 5 highest FCCU propylene yields in EMEA

Refineries in EMEA are utilising Grace solutions

to achieve excellent propylene yields

9.4

7.7

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

50 55 60 65 70 75 80 85

C3

= yi

eld

s, w

t%

Conversion, wt%

Ecat ACE Global Benchmark ACHIEVE vs. Base Case Catalysts

Base Case ACHIEVE


ACHIEVE® – Five steps to success

Continuous analysis of ACHIEVE is being conducted to validate the

increased profitability of the KMG Rompetrol FCCU.

Internal screening by Grace before offering ACHIEVE - screening study using the ACE® pilot

plant to identify most suitable formulation – July 2015

New technology proposed – September 2015

Grace Management of Change presented and discussed – September/December 2015

First delivery of new catalyst to KMG Rompetrolrefinery – July 2016

ACHIEVE results are showing the expected benefits in propylene yield and C4’s selectivity – test run

January 2017


ACHIEVE – ACE results

Key Unit Objectives

• Maximum Propylene Yield

(min.10 wt% of FF)

• Maximum Iso-Butylene Yield

• Maximize LCO

• High RON

• Higher dcoke

• Minimize dry gas

Improved performance with selected FCC catalyst tested by

Grace’s pilot plant

-1.5 -1 -0.5 0 0.5 1 1.5

C/O

Coke

dcoke

Dry Gas

LPG

Gasoline

LCO

HCO

C3=

iC4=

total C4

iC4=/total C4

iC4=/LPG

ACE Performance Deltas

Key objectives

wt %


Ecat comparison BASE vs. ACHIEVE

ACE Ecat results confirm improved olefins yields

1.500

1.700

1.900

2.100

2.300

2.500

2.700

2.900

3.100

3.300

71.0 72.0 73.0 74.0 75.0 76.0

IC4

=, w

t%

Conversion, wt%

ECAT Iso-butylene, wt%6.00

6.50

7.00

7.50

8.00

8.50

9.00

9.50

10.00

10.50

11.00

71.0 72.0 73.0 74.0 75.0 76.0

Pro

pyle

ne

ye

ild

, w

t%

Conversion, wt%

ECAT Propylene Yields (wt%) ACHIEVE Base catalyst


ACHIEVE – Unit Performance

ACHIEVE catalyst formulation provides significant bottoms

upgrading

42

46

50

54

80.0 85.0 90.0 95.0

Ga

so

lin

e, w

t%

Conversion, wt%

0

2

4

6

8

10

80.0 85.0 90.0 95.0

Slu

rry,

wt%

Conversion, wt%

0

4

8

12

80.0 85.0 90.0 95.0

LC

O,

wt%

Conversion, wt%

0.0

1.0

2.0

3.0

4.0

5.0

80.0 85.0 90.0 95.0

Dry

Ga

s, w

t%

Conversion, wt%

ACHIEVE Base catalyst



Key refinery objectives of increased propylene and

isobutylene yields have been achieved

6

8

10

12

80 82 84 86 88 90 92 94

Pro

pyle

ne

, w

t%

Conversion, wt%

0.0

1.0

2.0

3.0

4.0

80 82 84 86 88 90 92 94

Iso

-Bu

tyle

ne

, w

t%

Conversion, wt%

20

24

28

32

80 82 84 86 88 90 92 94

LP

G,

wt%

Conversion, wt%

0

0.1

0.2

0.3

0.4

0.5

80 82 84 86 88 90 92 94

iC4

= / C

4=

e, w

t%

Conversion, wt%

ACHIEVE Base catalyst



Compared to the Base catalyst system,

the ACHIEVE catalyst:

• provided higher iso-butylene and propylene yields as expected.

• 11.0 wt% propylene yield is achieved

ACHIEVE test run results at maximum unit throughput and max.

severity demonstrate higher refinery profitability for 2.3 M$/y

ECAT Properties: Activity, wt% 73.5 -75.0 UCS, Å 24.26 SA, m2/g 182 - 192

Operating conditions:

Unit throughput, t/h 142

ROT, o C 541

FPH temperature, o C 215

Specific Gravity 0.885

ZSM- Additive (OlefinsUltra HZ), % 7

Operation Mode Full Burn

Performance ACHIEVE vs. Base

Dry Gas, wt% 0.29

C3=, wt% 1.26

iC4= , wt% 1.05

LPG, wt% 1.68

Total Naphta, wt% -1.77

LCO, wt% 2.03

Slurry, wt% -2.10

Coke, wt% -0.13


Outlook

• The most profitable refineries are the ones that leverage their

flexibility to capture market opportunities.

• Increased profit of 2.3M $/y is calculated using refinery PIMS

model.

• Rompetrol could even further optimize performance and

improve profitability through additions of Grace’s latest

generation ZSM-5 additive, OlefinsUltra® XZ.

• Refinery plan is to increase downstream petrochemical unit

capacity for additional 15-20% to further increase LPG

production.


Rafael González Sánchez | Regional Technical Sales Manager

Refining Technologies - [email protected]

www.grace.com

Valentin Nilca | Senior Process Engineer Ljubica Simic | Technical Sales Manager

KMG Rompetrol Rafinare Refining Technologies - [email protected] [email protected]

www.rompetrol.com www.grace.com

mailto:[email protected]

http://www.grace.com/



http://www.rompetrol.com/

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